Written answers

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Public Inquiries

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his views on the De Silva report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56927/12]

Photo of Willie O'DeaWillie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the discussions he has held with the British government in relation to the De Silva Report and the need for a full independent inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56928/12]

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has outlined to the British Government that their refusal to hold a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane is a breach of an international agreement between Ireland and Britain; the way he intends to pursue this breach of an international agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56993/12]

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has outlined to the British Government that their refusal to hold a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane is a breach of an international agreement between Ireland and Britain; the way he intends to pursue this breach of an international agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56994/12]

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has conveyed to the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland the inadequacy of the recent de Silva Report on the brutal murder of Pat Finucane; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57048/12]

Photo of Brendan SmithBrendan Smith (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade if he has conveyed to the British Government the need for a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [57049/12]

Photo of Eamon GilmoreEamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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The murder of Pat Finucane was one of a number of cases which gave rise to allegations of collusion by the security forces in one or other of the jurisdictions on the island and which therefore had profound implications for public confidence and, consequently, for the wider peace process.

It was because of their wider implications for confidence that these cases were a particular concern for the British and Irish governments at Weston Park in 2001. These talks resulted in political agreement between the two governments to appoint a judge of international standing from outside both jurisdictions to undertake a thorough investigation of these cases and, in the event that a Public Inquiry was recommended in any case, to implement that recommendation.

Following a thorough investigation of these allegations, Judge Peter Cory recommended a public inquiry into five of the six cases. On foot of his recommendation, the Smithwick Tribunal was established by resolutions of Dáil and Seanad Eireann in 2005 and is continuing its work.

In his statement to parliament last Wednesday, Prime Minister Cameron acknowledged the systematic leaking by the security services to the UDA and paramilitary groups; failure by the RUC to act on threat intelligence; involvement by paid agents of the state in the murder of Pat Finucane; systematic failure to investigate and arrest West Belfast UDA agents involved in the murder; systematic attempts by police and army to disrupt and thwart investigations; and the deliberate misleading of Government ministers by officials.

The picture revealed to parliament by the report, as Prime Minister Cameron has said, is truly shocking. I respect the frankness and honesty with which the British Government has confronted the grievous failures identified in the report.

I believe that Prime Minister Cameron’s apology in parliament to Mrs Finucane continues the process of healing that the Prime Minister set in train with his statement to Parliament on publication of the Saville Report into Bloody Sunday in June 2010.

It is a matter of public record however that the Irish government disagreed strongly with the decision by the British government last year to conduct a review rather than an inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane and, indeed, with the lack of consultation in advance of that decision. Our disagreement was born of a belief that public confidence is best served by a public inquiry where the process of getting to the truth is open to scrutiny and the findings placed beyond doubt. In that, we were mindful of Judge Cory’s concern that where doubts persist, myths and misconceptions might only proliferate.

The Government’s view in favour of an inquiry is underpinned by an all-party motion of the Dáil, agreed in 2006, which recalled the agreement under Weston Park; took note of Judge Cory’s findings on collusion; commended the Finucane family for their courageous campaign and called for the immediate establishment of a full, independent, public judicial inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane, as recommended by Judge Cory, which would enjoy the full co-operation of the family and the wider community throughout Ireland and abroad.

I have conveyed the Government’s long-established position on this matter to Deputy Prime Minister Clegg and to Secretary of State Villiers yesterday following publication of the de Silva report.

The Government will continue to set out the case for an inquiry, mindful of the progress that has been made and mindful too of the responsibilities that both governments share in support of the peace process. I believe the work undertaken by Desmond de Silva QC can facilitate this, helping ensure that an inquiry need not be lengthy, open-ended and inordinately expensive.

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